Revital Cohen

Revital Cohen, magazine 07. Tecnologías Humedas. Wet-Tech.

Interview and article // Entrevista y artículo.

My work explores the interaction between people and technology – and specifically the new design possibilities emerging from advancements in the fields of biotechnology and scientific research. I use design as a tool in order to provoke a debate and encourage reflection on what is existing and what is yet to come.

As technology develops the ability to break the boundaries between natural kingdoms and fuse the organic with the artificial, we are slowly liberating ourselves from the limitations imposed by biology and redefining our anatomy, mind and environment. I am excited by the possibilities of merging man with machine, with other species, with plants, with digital information. Cross-breeding the kingdoms opens up new design opportunities and a space for debate.

Society’s imaginaries defined the way in which it faces the world. It’s transformation use to be a gradual process where revolutions and counterrevolutions of thought are implied. Lutheran revolution and Chinese cultural counterrevolution exposes perfectly this phenomenon.

However, for Revital Cohen, collective conscience transformation is an aesthetical exercise. Her work takes us into reflexive scenarios from the “humanity” concept evolution to the deep exploration of animal employment as devices.

One of contemporary atmospheres what nowadays creators have to face is precisely the seamless frontier between the artificial and the natural world, just there, this British artist work takes importance.

‘Life support’ work openly controverter, is a performance which questions about animals employment as devices for men requirements. At ‘Respiratory dog’ Cohen questions the usual ending of Greyhound dogs once they got old, it means, their death, and propose a sort of “second career” which allow to this animals works, after a short training, as auxiliary lungs for respiratory unable patients.

On certain way, this work redefines the symbiosis concept, because not just the patient linked to dog have a benefit; the dog achieved to make longer his life too. However, the utilitarian regimen of arts is not suitable with this artist vision.

“I believe that there is a space for design, which is not just focused on utilitarian functionality, especially when looking into evolving technologies. While I was studying and working as a furniture designer I used to get frustrated by the constraints of production and market value. I think design in its experimental form can creep into peoples’ understanding of reality and challenge it by being familiar but speculative at the same time”.

True transformative potential at Cohen’s work is in her recurrent trend to subvert power roles related with men relationship with the environment.‘Nanomythologies’ works over this principle. Human body conception as matter and its future evolution into ways of “humanity” which would not be really accepted 20 years ago.Possibly this is the Cohen’s work where frontier between natural and artificial becomes less evident.

“My work looks into how technology makes up perceive ourselves as matter; our bodies can be molded, manipulated and juxtaposed with other materials. As such we can take many confusing, questionable roles. The idea of the cyborg as an organism that has both natural and artificial systems can easily be projected on most of us, with our use of behavioral drugs, hormones or medical prostheses”.

If the historical consequentiality between the artistic discourse and the human definition survives to postmodern times, such as it done at renaissance and the modern times, without doubt we will be taken to a future when object’s fiction we had write about our present bodies, define our ontological condition.

Interview to Revital Cohen

elniuton: Works as Nanomythologies and body enhancement expose a sort of pessimist vision about technology influence on human body… do you believe that this specific technologies are leaving back the “humanity” natural to human being?

Revital Cohen: I am really intrigued by what might happen as our biology becomes controlled and adjustable, does it turn us less human? I don’t think so, but I guess that opens a whole set of questions of what a human is. To me a human has the ability to reconstruct himself into something else, so I think technological advancements are actually a very natural progression.

I don’t consider my projects are necessarily pessimistic, I would like to think that my work leaves many questions unanswered, and provokes a debate or reflection process where the viewer makes their own opinion.

en: How did you come to realize (imagine) the original ideas at your work research?

R C: I believe that there is a space for design, which is not just focused on utilitarian functionality, especially when looking into evolving technologies. While I was studying and working as a furniture designer I used to get frustrated by the constraints of production and market value. I think design in its experimental form can creep into peoples’ understanding of reality and challenge it by being familiar but speculative at the same time.

en: According to your “Nanomythologies” how possible is to have an ¨grey goo¨ effect within the human body? it is the ecophagy the worst scenario?

R C: I don’t think the ‘grey goo’ effect can happen, but I am not a scientist, you should ask Eric Drexler. However, that is not what the project is about, the thing I found most interesting about nanotechnology is how inspirational this dry scientific research seems to be to the birth of myths and fantasies (grey goo paranoia included). My film illustrated the nanotechnology myth that the Raelian movement believes in. I wanted to examine the extremely utopian scenario the Raelians have constructed in order to question the idea of a “fix-all” science.

en: What is the artistic intention behind your work? I mean, what do you want to change, or expose through your work?

RC: Intentions vary from each project but mainly I think that discussing possible scientific futures can be an interesting catalyst for reflecting on the present.

en: Your work is allways asking about roles of nature, mankind, technology and the relationship between them… “life support” for example put to men at parasite role… what I want to know is; what other atypical relationships is possible to establish between mankind, nature and technology thanks to your work?

RC: My work looks into how technology makes up perceive ourselves as matter; our bodies can be molded, manipulated and juxtaposed with other materials. As such we can take many confusing, questionable roles. The idea of the cyborg as an organism that has both natural and artificial systems can easily be projected on most of us, with our use of behavioral drugs, hormones or medical prostheses. I think there is an interesting dissonance with us controlling technology which in turn transforms us into something else, so I guess we are always a little bit of the creature as well as the creator.

en: What can you tell us about technical details of your work?

RC: Some of the work is in response to a brief, other is self initiated. I always look for questions I cannot answer and mostly get interested in patterns of behavior or perception in relation to a subject. I tend to do a lot of research, into psychology, science, religion or whatever is relevant to my point of reference and try and construct a narrative. When I discover some details that click, that fit into that scenario and enrich or bring my ideas into reality that’s a really nice feeling, like completing a jigsaw puzzle. From then on it’s a design process – drawings, scale models, more drawings, calculations, producing.. Which is also a stage that constantly sends me back to research to make sure that everything makes sense.